19 April 2007: Afternoon

  • In his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, Gonzales qualifies the attorney firings as "flawed," though not "improper."
  • U.S. District Court to decide whether Yahoo can be held responsible for torture by the Chinese government.
  • Ten suspects arrested in the bloody murder of three Bible publishers in eastern Turkey.
  • Russia ensures that all 89 foreign-based adoption agencies' licenses expire, leaving thousands of children with nowhere to go.
  • In "bizarre swap," U.S. agrees to take Sri Lankan refugees stranded on Nauru, if Australia will take Cuban and Haitian asylum-seekers.
  • If you're skipping out on the Cricket World Cup, you're not the only one. (Same goes for passing on Tarantino and Rodriguez's Grindhouse.)
  • Cheapskates may find tai chi a sufficient replacement for chickenpox vaccine.
  • This single site has more influence on Japanese popular opinion than the prime minister, the emperor, and the traditional media combined. If anything interesting is happening in Japan, it's on 2-channel.
  • Times headline department particularly insensitive to Brooklyn's feelings about the passing of its minke whale.
  • The proof we've always sought: Those Croc clogs are deadly.
  • Obama '08's grassroots campaign is coming to a bathroom near you.
  • Today's long read: The bygone societal implications of the handkerchief, or James Fenimore Cooper makes your pocket talk.
  • Nothing mixes better than science, shampoo, lasers, and YouTube.
  • Shampoo is pretty much the only ingredient not in Twinkies.
  • Fast food fiction vs. fast food fact. Related: PBS hopes to inspire a new generation of food stylists.